Mortising tool provided with door jamb clearance compensating means



'Aug. 27, 1957 c DI MANNO 2,804,106

MORTISING TOOL PROVIDED WITH DOOR JAMB CLEARANCE COMPENSATING MEANSFiled Aug. 17, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 III/I ms 5" I l M /08 E S k Aug.27, 1957 Filed Aug. 17-, 1954 c. DI MANNO' MORTISING TOOLPROVIDED WITHDOOR JAMB CLEARANCE COMPENSATING MEANS 3 SheetsSheet 3 I64 I I 7 0 IE9MORTISHN G TOQL PROVIDED WITH DOOR JAMB CLEARANCE COMPENSATING MEANSCarlo Di Manno, Greenbush, Mass. Application August 17, 1954, Serial No.450,287 15 Claims. (Cl. 14427) This invention relates to carpentry toolsand more particularly to tools employed to cut mortises in doors anddoor jambs for receiving the leaves of hinges.

The operation of setting door butts by hand, as it is usually done, istime consuming and requires considerable skill on the part of thecarpenter in order to produce an accurate, neat appearing job. Thecarpenter first marks out in pencil the outline of thearea which is tobe cut out to receive the leaf of the hinge, then cuts the wood alongthe outline, and finally clips away the wood in the outlined area to thedesired depth. This procedure is followed in making mortises on both thedoor and thedoor jamb. In laying out the jamb mortise it is necessary tocalculate the width of the mortise so that there will be clearancebetween the face of the door and the rabbet, preferably about in.Furthermore, the depth of the mortise must be just enough to permit thehinge leaves to lie flush with the jamb and the edge of the door. If thehinges are set too deep, the door will bind. It is difficult to make aperfectly fiat even cut with a hand chisel. The wood tends to splitalong the line of the grain, which may slant with respect to the edge ofthe door or frame. The splinters also tend to extend beyond the desiredoutine, unless the carpenter works slowly and with care.

The general object of this invention is to provide a hand tool whichwill cut mortises quickly and accurately to the exact size and depth tofit a standard door butt, which eliminates the labor of laying out theborders of the mortises, which minimizes the danger of splitting thewood beyond the desired outline, which automatically spaces the jambmortise the proper distance from the rabbet to allow clearance for thedoor, and which is sufficiently simple and compact so that it can beconveniently carried in a tool box. Other advantages of the device willbe apparent from the following description.

In the drawing illustrating the invention:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of one form of a tool constructed according to theinvention, shown in position for use on a door jamb;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the tool in position for use on a door;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the cutting knife used with the tool;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section taken along line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a cross-section taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of another form of the tool, shown as applied to adoor jamb;

Fig. 7 is a cross-section taken along line 77 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a cross-section taken along line 88 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of still another form of the tool, shown asapplied to a door;

Fig. 10 is a cross-section taken along linep10-10 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a cross-section taken along line 1111 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of one of the cutting knives Used with thetool of Fig. 9;

nited States Patent Fig. 13 is a plan view of still another form of thetool, shown as applied to a door jamb;

Fig. 14 is a cross-section taken along line 14-14 of Fig. 13;

Fig. 15 is a cross-section taken along line 1515 of Fig. 13; and

Fig. 16 is a cross-section similar to Fig. 14, showing the tool asapplied to a door.

The tool illustrated in Figs. 1-5 consists of an H-shaped frame,indicated generally by the numeral 20, and a cooperating knife 21. Theframe has a central cross bar 22, to which are connected legs 23 and 24which serve as outline guides for the door mortise, and legs 25 and 26which serve as outline guides for the jamb mortise. The legs 25 and 26are offset to the rear of legs 23 and 24, and cross bar 22 has alongitudinal groove 27 which receives either edge of the rabbet 28 ofthe jamb 29, as in Figs. 1 and 4, or the edge of the door 30, as inFigs. 2 and 5.

The legs 23 and 24 carry rearwardly extending lugs 31 and 32 in whichare threaded a pair of thumb screws 33 and 34, preferably tipped withrubber buttons 35 and 36. Groove 27 has a flat side face 37 whichengages one side of the door or rabbet, as the case may be, and buttons35 and 36 are brought up tight by means of the screws against the otherside of the door or rabbet to clamp the tool in place. The extreme righthand face 38 of bar 22, together with the inner faces 39 and 40 of legs25 and 26, serves as an outline guide for a jamb mortise. Similarly theextreme left hand face 41 of bar 22, together with the inner faces 42and 43 of legs 23 and 24, serves as an outline guide for a door mortise.

The cutting knife 21 consists of a blade 45 attached to a holder 46which has projecting margins 47 and 48. Arms 23 and 24 have slots 49 and50, and arms 25 and 26 have similar slots 51 and 52, which slidablyreceive the margins 47 and 48 of the knife holder.

To use the tool for cutting a mortise on a door jamb the device is firstclamped on the rabbet as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The carpenter needs tolocate, by measurement, only the height at which the hinge is to be setand align one of the surfaces 39 or 40 with the bottom or top, as thecase may be, of the area to be cut out to receive the hinge. The knife21 is then placed with its back to face 38, in the position shown infull lines in Fig. 1, and hammered into the jamb. As shown by the dottedoutline 53 of the knife in Fig. 4, the front corners 55 and 56 of theprojecting margins 47 and 48 of the knife holder engage the front faces57 and 58, when the blade has penetrated to the correct depth and serveas stops. The knife is then moved successively to the positions shown bythe dotted outlines 59 and 60 in Fig. 1 and hammered in to cut the topand bottom outlines of the mortise. The margins 47 and 48 of the holderare then engaged in slots 51 and 52, respectively, and the knife ishammered in the direction of the arrows 61 (Fig. l) to undercut thematerial in the mortise area and complete the mortise. The corners 55and 56 of the holder engage the ends 62 and 63 of slots 51 and 52,respectively, when the knife edge is even with face 38, and thus serveas stops to limit the cut to the exact width desired.

To cut a mortise on a door, the tool is clamped to the door 30, asillustrated in Fig. 2 and 5. The knife is placed with its back to eachof the three guide surfaces 41, 42 and 43, and hammered in to form theoutline of the mortise, the front faces 64 and 65 serving as stops forthe corners 55 and 56 in cutting the jamb mortise, the margins 47 and 48of the holder are then engaged in slots 50 and 49 respectively and theknife hammered in to perform the undercut. These slots also stop shortof the cross bar 22 so as to limit the travel of the knife to thedesired area. 7

It will be noted in Fig. 5 that the mortise cut on the door is spacedfrom the right hand edge of the door by the distance between surfaces 37and 41, which will be referred to as dimension A. In Fig. 4, it will benoted that the mortise cut on the jamb 29 is spaced from the rabbet 28by the distance between faces 37 and 36 which will be referred to asdimension B. The latter dimension on the tool is made larger thandimension A, preferably about in. greater. The correct clearance betweenthe door and the rabbet, when the door is hung, is thus ensured.

This form of tool is simple and flat enough so that several toolscorresponding to the most used standard door sizes can be readilycarried in a tool box. The tool, therefore, need not be made adjustable.This simple construction results in a saving, and the lack ofadjustability is to some extent an advantage, as errors due to faultyadjustment are eliminated.

The form of tool shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 consists in general of a 72and 73 are mounted, and which has slots 74 and 75 for slidably receivinga knife 76. The box carries blocks 77 and 78 on its sides. These blockshave rear surfaces 79 and 80 which, when the blades 71, 72 and 73 havebeen driven into the wood, engage the jamb, or door, as the case may be,and serve as stops to limit the depth of the cut. The blocks also haveend faces 81 and 82 which butt against the rabbet 28 when the tool isused on a jamb, to space the mortise from the rabbet. The box has a rearwall 83, running between the side wall projections 70a and 70b in whichslots 74 and 75 are located. A block 84 carrying a screw 85 is mountedon the rear of wall 83. The knife 76 carries a bar 86 which engages thehead of screw 85 when the mortise has been under cut to the desiredwidth. The screw can be adjusted to compensate for shortening of theknife when it is sharpened.

To use the tool on a jamb, the box is laid against the jamb with the endsurfaces 81 and 82 of blocks 77 and 7S engaging the edge of the rabbet.The box is then hammered to drive the three stationary blades into thejamb, forming the outline of the mortise. The knife 76 is then engagedin the slots 74 and 75 and hammered in to perform the undercut. The toolis used on a door in much the same manner. The wall 83 carries a bar 87which engages the edge of the door to establish the width of themortise. This block is so located with respect to the blade 72 as toproduce a mortise slightly wider than the jamb mortise which is gaugedby engaging blocks 77 and 78 with the rabbet. The front wall 88 of thebox may be provided with holes 89 for locating the holes for the hingescrews. After the mortise is cut, the box is turned over and fitted intothe mortise and marks made in any usual way through holes 89.

In the form shown in Figs. 9 to 11 the box for gauging the mortiseconsists of side walls 90 and 91 with extending legs 92 and 93, an endwall 94, and a cross bar 95 mounted between the side walls 96, 97, and98 which, with the three walls of the box, form open slots 99, 100, and101. Two knives are used with this box, a broad knife 102, and a narrowknife 103. The side walls carry blocks 104 and 105 which butt aganistthe rabbet when the tool is used on a jamb, in the same manner as blocks77 and 78 in the form shown in Figs. 6 to 8. The rear plate 106 carriesa block 107 which engages the edge of the door 30 when the tool is usedon a door, as shown in Fig. 10. The small knife 103 is inserted insuccession in slots 99 and 101, and hammered in to cut the top andbottom outlines of the mortise. The small knife is provided with aprojecting back bar 108. Mounted on walls 91 and 92 are blocks 109 and110 carrying screws 111 and 112 respectively. These screws engage bar108 when knife 103 has penetrated to the correct depth. The large knifeis inserted in slot 100 to cut the side outline of the mortise. Thisknife carries a block 113 in which box 70, in which three stationaryknives 71,

' cut the top and bottom outlines.

is mounted a screw 114. Wall 94 has a projection which engages thisscrew to stop the knife at the correct depth. When the knife is used toperform the undercut, screw 114 engages block 107 and serves to stop theknife at the correct width. All the screws 111, 112, and 114 can beadjusted to compensate for shortening of the knives as they aresharpened.

The tool in the form shown in Figs. l3l6 again consists of a box havingside walls 115 and 116 and end wall 117, a front plate 118 and a rearWall 119. A stationary knife 120 is attached to the end wall. A movableplate 121 is also attached to end wall 117 by means of a thumb screw 122running in a slot 123 in the plate. When the tool is used on a jamb theplate is adjusted flush with edge 124 of wall 117 and provides the extraclearance spacing between the mortise and the rabbet, as shown in Fig.14. When the tool is used on a door, plate 121 is moved to the rear toengage one side of the door while edge 125 of wall 119 engages theother, as shown in Fig. 16. A single narrow, movable knife 126 is usedwith this device. Knife 120 is first hammered in to cut the side outlineof the mortise and seat the tool. Plate 118 is provided with slots 127and 12S. Knife 126 is inserted in each of these slots in succession andhammered in to. Knife 126 carries a block 129 having an edge 130 whichengages the face of plate 118 when the knife has penetrated to thecorrect depth. This block also overhangs the knife to the rear, and hasan edge 131, which engages the edge 132 of rear wall 119 as a stop, whenthe knife is used to perform the undercut. Rear wall 119 has a centralpartition 133 which has grooves 134 and 135. Walls 115 and 116 also havegrooves 136 and 137. Knife 126 is engaged in grooves 135 and 137 andhammered in to under cut about one half of the area, and then engaged ingrooves 134 and 136 and hammered in to under cut the rest of the area.The small strip of wood in the middle which is not directly engaged bythe knife will ordinarily split away smoothly.

In all its forms this tool enables a carpenter to cut perfect mortiseswith a minimum exercise of skill, and without making time consumingmeasurements and layouts. The clearance between the door and rabbet isautomatically provided. Furthermore the tool is sufficiently simple andcompact so that it can be easily carried in a hand tool box.

What is claimed is:

1. A tool, for cutting corresponding hinge mortises on a door and a jambof the type having a rabbet projecting so as to overlap the door whenthe latter is closed, comprising: a guide frame adapted to engage themember to be cut and to define the desired outline of the mortise; meanson said frame for engaging the edge of a door to establish the width ofthe mortise; means on said frame for engaging the rabbet of a door jamb,said rabbet engaging means being so disposed in fixed relationship withrespect to said door engaging means as to space the jamb mortise fromthe rabbet by sufficient distance to provide a predetermined clearancebetween the rabbet and the door when the latter is hung and closed; anda knife slidably engageable with said frame to perform the undercut ofthe mortise, said frame having means for guiding the knife to undercutat a desired depth.

2. A tool as described in claim 1, said frame having a pair of parallelgrooves, and said knife having a pair of parallel margins slidablyreceived in said grooves.

3. A tool as described in claim 1, said frame having a stop member, andsaid knife having a cooperating stop member, the stop members beingadapted to limit the travel of the knife to undercut only the areawithin the confines of the mortise outline.

4. A tool, for cutting corresponding hinge mortises on a door and jamb,comprising: a generally H-shaped frame having a central cross-bar, afirst pair of legs extending to one side of the cross-bar, and a secondpair of legs exseems tending to the other side of the side of thecross-bar, each pair of legs having opposing parallel surfaces, and saidcross-bar having a first and a second fiat surface, the first forming,with the opposing surfaces of the first pair of legs, an outline guidefor the door mortise, and the second forming, with the opposing surfacesof the second pair of legs, an outline guide for the jamb mortise; aknife slidably received on either pair of legs to undercut the mortise;and an offset portion on said bar having a fiat face disposed parallelto said first and second bar surfaces and adapted to engage either theedge of a door or the edge of a jamb rabbet, said flat face beingdisposed further from said first surface than from said second surfaceby a distance suitable for producing a predetermined clearance betweenthe rabbet and the door when the latter is hung.

5. A tool as described in claim 4, said first pair of legs carrying apair of screws adapted to engage the edge of a jamb rabbet or dooropposite that engaged by said fiat face to clamp the tool in place.

6. A tool as described in claim 4, each of said legs having a slot alongits guiding surface, and said knife having projecting margins slidablyengageable in the slots of either pair of legs, said slots terminatingshort of the cross-bar and said margins having corners engageable withthe ends of the slots to limit the travel of the knife to under cut onlythe area within the confines of the mortise outline.

7. A tool as described in claim 4, said knife having a fiat back,engageable with any of the surface forming the outline guides, and sideprojections, and said legs and cross bar having front faces engageableby said projections to limit, the depth of the mortise when the knife isused to cut the outline.

8. A tool, for cutting corresponding hinge mortises on a door and ajamb, comprising: a box having two parallel side walls, connected by anend wall, and a rear opening; stationary knife blades attached to saidside and end walls and projecting through said rear opening, said bladesbeing arranged to cut the outline of a mortise; blocks mounted on saidend walls having rear faces engageable with the door or jamb to limitthe depth of the outline cut by said blades, said blocks also having endfaces adapted to engage the rabbet of a jamb to establish the space ofthe jamb mortise therefrom to allow clearance between one rabbet and thedoor when the latter is hung; a bar mounted parallel to said end wall onthe opposite side of the rear opening and adapted to engage the edge ofa door to establish the width of the mortise; and a movable knifeslidably engageable with said side walls in a plane perpendicular tosaid stationary knives said movable knife being adapted to perform theunder cut of the mortise.

9. A tool as described in claim 8, said movable knife carrying aprojection, and the box having a screw with a head engageable by saidprojection, said screw constituting an adjustable stop to limit theundercut performed by the movable knife to the area outlined by thestationary knives.

10. A tool, for cutting correspondinghinge mortises on a door and ajamb, comprising: a box having two parallel side walls, connected by anend wall, and a rear opening; a plate mounted on said box and partiallyoverlying said rear opening, said plate having three edges disposedparallel to said side and end walls, and forming therewith a continuousslot adapted to serve as an outline guide for the mortise; blocksmounted on said side walls, said blocks having end faces engageable witha jamb rabbet to space the jamb mortise therefrom and provide clearancebetween the rabbet and the door when the latter is hung; a cross-piecemounted parallel to said end wall on the opposite side of said opening,said cross-piece being engageable with the edge of a door to establishthe width of the door mortise; a first movable knife slidably engageablein said slot alongside of either of said side walls and adaptable to cutthe top and bottom outlines of the mortise; and a second movable knife,wider than the first, said second knife being slidably engageable insaid slot to cut the side margin of the mortise, and also slidablyreceivable between said side walls to undercut the mortise.

11. A tool as described in claim 10, said first knife having aprojection and said side walls having screws mounted thereon to engagesaid projection and serve as adjustable stops to limit the depth of theoutline cut, said second knife having a screw mounted thereon, said endwall having a projection adapted to engage saidlast named screw andserve as a stop to limit the depth of the outline cut and saidcross-piece also having a projection adapted to engage said last namedscrew and serve as a stop to limit the width of the undercut.

12. A tool, for cutting corresponding hinge mortises on a door and ajamb, comprising: a box having two parallel side walls, connected by anend wall, and a rear opening; a front plate overlying said rear opening,having slots alongside said end walls; a stationary knife mounted onsaid end wall and projecting through said opening; a back plateconnecting said side walls to one side of said opening, said back platehaving an edge adapted to engage the edge of a door and establish thewidth of the mortise; a partition centrally mounted on said back plate,having grooves on either side running parallel to said side walls, thelatter also having grooves; a movable knife slidably engageable witheither groove of the partition and the groove of the adjacent side Wallto perform part of the undercut of the mortise, said movable knife beingalso slidably engageable in said slots to perform the top and bottomoutline cuts of the mortise; and an end plate attached to said end walland adapted to engage the rabbet of a door jam, said end plate being ofa thickness corresponding to the desired clearance between the jamb andthe door when the latter is hung.

13. A tool as described in claim 12, said back plate being slidable onsaid end wall in a direction perpendicular to the rear opening, toengage the edge of the door opposite that engaged by the back plate whenthe tool is used on a door.

14. A tool as described in claim 12, said movable knife having a firstprojection adapted to engage the back plate to limit the width of theundercut, and a second projection adapted to engage the front plate andlimit the depth of the cut when the knife is used to cut the top andbottom outlines of the mortise.

15. A tool for cutting corresponding hinge mortises on a door and a jambof the type having a rabbet projecting so as to overlap the door whenthe latter is closed, comprising: a frame having a cross-bar and legsextending therefrom and defining therewith the outline of the mortise;means on said cross-bar for engaging either the edge of a door or theedge of a jamb, and providing with said frame a fixed spacing device forproducing a predetermined clearance between the rabbet and the door whenthe latter is hung; and a knife slidably engageable with said frame toperform. the undercut of the mortise, said frame having means forguiding the knife to undercut at a desired depth.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS302,058 Thurston July 15,1884 453,045 Gutzman May 26, 1891 507,914 LeeOct. 31, 1893 761,861 Wagner June 7, 1904 1,043,584 Franklin Nov. 5,1912 1,079,719 Poortinga Nov. 25, 1913 1,417,431 Vogt May 23, 1922

